World Bank lifts ban on Wipro

Wipro, Indias third-largest information technology (IT) services firm, is now eligible to participate in various World Bank projects; a four-year ban on the company in 2007 has expired. However, the company has to reapply to become a vendor of the bank, which will be decided based on the eligibility criteria and other norms.

Wipro has served their full four-year sanction period (June 13, 2007, to June 12, 2011) for the sanctionable practice of providing improper benefits to the Bank staff, an agency report said quoting a World Bank spokesperson from Washington.

The spokesperson said Wipro had not applied for vendor status with the Bank. However, should they do so, the Bank's own vendor registration process will evaluate their eligibility with an appropriate level of diligence applied to the issue of governance, he said.